other areas in the country and the world have their tech “centers” but this one minus the super cold weather maybe a great place for start ups. lots of colleges and universities, low cost of living etc…
http://www.wibw.com/content/news/Silicon-Prairie-Americas-new-entrepreneurial-frontier-370247531.html
For a warmer option , the Charleston SC is a growing tech center and has recently been called “The Silicon Harbor”.
I think it’s great sillian something popping up everywhere. Hopefully, it will lift the stagnant local economy. I am sure tech industry has its fault but they seem to be as metriocartic as can be.
yeah charleston is an awesome place!
greater fort laudedale/boca raton (excellent quality of life) also much warmer and full of opportunities for tech growth.
Hopefully these will spring up, but I doubt silicon valley or other current tech centers have much to worry about being totally replaced. There have been attempts over the years to create ‘tech centers’ over the years, to replace silicon valley back in the hardware days of things, ‘silicon alley’ outside Boston and such. There are reasons tech springs up in the areas it does, one of the biggies of course is research universities (Berkeley/Stanford in the Silicon alley area, MIT among others in Boston). The other factor are locations people want to live in, places that have rich cultural and other lives to them. For a while Utah kind of became a tech hub, Novel was there, several modem manufacturers, but it never grew, because it was hard for them to attract the talent they needed. It is no accident that a lot of the tech centers we have, are around city areas, because that tends to attract young, talented people. You take a look at tech centers we have, and they have people from all over the place, because they are looking for talent. It is a very different world than manufacturing, and places either need to attract people from outside, or have the ability to train local people (usually both). From experience, often what these ‘silicon prairies’ do is get people on visa from overseas and such, which in some ways is great for the local economy (taxes, and the boost to local businesses), but it often doesn’t result in direct jobs from local population, either.
There are obviously attractions to other places, ‘silicon prairie’ towns likely will have a lower cost of living than the insanity of places like the Bay Area or NYC, and if they are paying wages combined with the lower cost of living that ends up being a higher level of living than one of the current centers, it may be an inducement…but money alone won’t attract talented people, either. Places where the sidewalk rolls up at 6pm, or where the big cultural life is the local shopping mall or it is one of those towns I have seen out in the midwest, that seem to be half evangelical churches and half strip clubs, likely won’t be that attractive. On the other hand, towns around colleges tend to work, Austin comes to mind or the research Triangle in North Carolina, because there is something of a nightlife there, music, and so forth.
musicprint…mostly true…but silicon valley has taken on a life of it’s own. not just people wanting to live there. it is like Harvard…i want to go to Harvard! why?? because it is the place to go! why?? it just is… so it has now come to the position of being where those people go and it is a self fulfilling prophecy.
austin,research triangle,fort lauderdale,pittsburgh all will chip away at this. silicon prairie just a tiny bit (IMO) I hope it does work out for those in the prairie (or on the prairie??)
Agree that there are lots of tech hubs and start-up hubs pupping up in several locations. And some of the big tech companies are setting up satellite facilities and such in areas like Austin, etc. Apologies to Lincoln, Nebraska, but I’d choose Austin.
Ack typo-- popping up, not pupping up!! I used to like my ipad bluetooth keypad, but no more!!!
Why is Austin “better” for young people? A larger city? (but not as small as Lincoln, Nebraska, as huge and spread out as Dallas, Houston or NYC?) More (Live) Music Scenes (SXSW)? More young people because UT Austin is there?
Last time I heard of it, Apple had a satellite site in Austin.
Is that a serious question?
I have to admit, I would think seriously before moving to Austin. Even my sister, who has lived there her entire life, says she thinks about moving. Ask @Youdon’tsay - the traffic is absolutely horrendous. It’s not the same city it was just a few years ago.
Well, living in a city with traffic problems that are off the scales, that probably wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me. There are many things on this list I don’t necessarily agree with, but it has some interesting comparisons http://www.vocativ.com/interactive/culture/society/livability-index-2014/
And as an aside, while many cities have lots of work to to do to improve traffic patterns and roads, the traffic exists because many people choose to live there!
Would they move from Austin to Lincoln, Neb, @MaineLonghorn
Why is it not a serous question? Many companies seem to have chosen Austin over Lincoln in the past (for their satellite site): IBM, AMD, Sun Microsystems, Intel (it backed out at one time, but it seems it goes back in because of its acquisition of Freescale not long ago.)
These companies seem to find good reasons to establish their satellite site there.
I just wonder that, from young people’s point of view (or their parents’s point of view), why is this city desirable?
I could give one reason:
Not so large (as a city), not so small. It is about the “right” size.
It seems the population in Austin and that in Boston are actually not that different, if my memory serves me well here.
I’ll bet $12.25/hr, plus benefits & pistachios, will go a lot further in Nebraska.
But you you don’t need snow tires in Austin and the heating costs are probably lower.
Then again, the A/C and entertainment costs are probably higher in Austin.
This is a great story about Austin today and the Austin of old that I miss. I will say, I think this story does a great job of making the case of the Austin today is just an extension of the creative roots of old Austin. If anyone (or their kid) is considering moving here, give it a gander.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/austin-and-the-city-of-the-eternal-boom/
Texas has no state income tax.
I feel like I’m playing devil’s advocate! But if it were me, I would want to know the negatives. The heat in the summer is really brutal - that’s the main reason I knew I couldn’t live in Austin. One summer, it was “only” 97 on my birthday (middle of July) and I was so happy! It was hard to have an outdoor birthday party, most years.
Plusses for Austin - Music scene, dining scene, no income tax, weird and hip, college town
Minuses - summer heat (but you do get used to it)
Plusses for Nebraska - cost of living…can’t think of too much else.